India: An Archaeological History by Chakrabarty Dilip K

Author:Chakrabarty, Dilip K.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP India
Published: 2009-08-26T04:00:00+00:00

Religion12

The archaeological evidence of an ‘Indus’ religion was comprehensively discussed in the first volume of the Mohenjodaro report in 1931, and although many scholars have expressed disagreement with it, the disagreements are basically in the matter of detail and do not really affect the basic structure offered. In view of the female terracotta figurines found at sites, a belief in the different types of mother goddess may be taken for granted. A small sealing from Harappa shows a plant coming out of the womb of a woman. Another representation on a seal has been interpreted as ‘a prototype of the historic Siva’. An apparently three-faced god with horned head-dress sits on a low Indian throne in a yogic posture, with legs joined heel to heel below him and the arms resting on the knees on either side. The arms are fully covered by bracelets, three on each arm being larger and more prominent than the rest. The chest is covered by a row of necklaces disposed in the form of an inverted triangle. There are two bands across the waist and it looks as though the figure is shown ithyphallic. There is an ibex/deer/goat below the throne. A number of animals (elephant and tiger on the left and a rhino and a horned bull/buffalo on the right) and an inscription occur as a background. The horned head-dress, association with animals, three faces, ithyphallic state and the yogic posture mark it out as a deity who has a better chance to have been a prototype of Siva than anything else. ‘Siva’ is also writ large on the phallic stones found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa where there are also ring-stones on the model of female signs. Further, a standing nude figure in a tree with a supplicant below suggests a tree deity, and another seal shows a row of seven standing females, recalling the ‘seven mothers’ of the later Hindu tradition. The life-like rendering of animals shown on seals may denote some sanctity associated with these animals. At Kalibangan, the offering-pits found on the top of platforms in the western mound and the offering-pits found in the ordinary dwelling places of Lothal, Banawali, etc. show a pattern of sacrifice which many practising Hindus will recognize. We do not suggest that Hinduism, as we find it today, was there in the Indus civilization. All that we would say is that some later features of Hinduism have been echoed by ‘Indus’ finds, and thus this civilization is likely to have contributed to the stream of ‘sanatana dharma’ or traditional religion of the modern Hindus.

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